Time Capsule
by Dobi Boushi
Summary: Mirajane's got herself a new scheme that doesn't involve her trying to play matchmaker...? Laxus is on-board for the sheer hell of it? Only one thing is certain anymore; insanity is imminent. Then again, it's Fairy Tail. Box of Junk up, GaLe included.
1. And So It Begins

_Summary: Mirajane's got herself a new scheme that doesn't involve her trying to play matchmaker...? Laxus is on-board for the sheer hell of it? Only one thing is certain anymore; insanity is imminent. Then again, it's Fairy Tail: what else is new?_

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><p><strong>Time Capsule<strong>

_And So It Begins_

"You're making a what for a _what_ now?" Laxus asked, not sure whether to laugh at what he had just heard or be confused by it. So far he'd opted for the latter as he stared at Mirajane with a rather blank expression. What the _hell_ had brought this on all of a sudden?

Lifting one hand, he ran his fingers through his blond hair as he asked himself why he'd even bothered attempting to make small talk with Mirajane as he'd gone up to order a drink from the guild bar. He supposed his curiosity had gotten the better of him when he'd seen the white haired women standing down the far end, browsing through a _large_ pile of old photographs with a pen and a sheet of paper beside her as she made notes about something or other. Why on earth had he bothered to ask her what she was doing? It wasn't like he really cared to begin with. Yet, somehow he'd still ended up in this situation. How the hell, just how the hell...?

Oh yeah, that damnable thing called curiosity had struck again.

"I'm making a photo album; which I'm going to place inside a time capsule for future generations of Fairy Tail to dig up and see for themselves how the guild used to be!" Mirajane replied with her usual bright smile from the other side of the bar as she turned around in order to pour the drink the blond had ordered whilst attempting to engage her in small talk. "This whole missing out on seven years thing got me thinking that we won't be around forever, for all we know we could be gone tomorrow in our line of work, and the only thing we'd have to prove we were here in the first place are the memories our nakama have of us and our names on the guilds KIA register. So I'm going to try and get everyone to contribute to this time capsule so that when someone finds it in the future they can see for themselves how the guild has changed between now and then. And I figured the best place to start would be something that everyone could contribute to, as well as our own individual contributions, so what better than a guild photo album? Maybe I could get everyone to sign it and write a message or two…"

"If you say so," Laxus replied, nonplussed on the idea as he took his drink from the Fairy Tail barmaid. Though despite part of his mind was telling him to get up from the stool he'd sat down in, when he had no idea, he'd been standing a moment before after all, and get out whilst he still could. But, alas, curiosity once again got the better of him. "So what are you going to put in time capsule of yours, beside the photo album that is?"

"You know, I haven't really thought about it," Mirajane spoke, tapping a finger against her cheek as she tried to think of a suitable idea. _Typical,_ Laxus thought, shaking his head slightly before taking a sip of his drink. In all honesty he actually found the idea to be sort of amusing when he thought about it, some of the ideas that sprang to mind about what a few of his guildmates might contribute almost made him choke on his drink in hysterics.

_Odds are Natsu and Happy would end up contributing the stupidest item of the lot, _he was able to chuckle safely this time, having swallowed his beverage and returned the mug to the surface of the bar.

"Something funny, Laxus?" Mirajane asked, tilting her head to one side as she observed him, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She'd probably had similar thoughts to her own when she first had the idea. "Say, how would you like me to help me with the time capsule?" She was smirking now, though in the way that she could pass it off as a simple smile if she wanted to, she had him hooked now, his curiosity had dragged him past the point of no return and she knew it, but he couldn't admit _that_.

"What makes you think I'd want anything to do with all this? I might have better things to do with my time," he said after a moment's pause, making sure to choose his words carefully. Whilst Mirajane was no longer the terror she was back in their days as teenagers, she could still scare the majority of the guild shitless - himself included; even if he claimed up and down otherwise to save his pride - if she wanted to.

Try as Erza might, and despite Natsu and Gray's claims to the contrary, Mirajane was hands down the scariest women in Fairy Tail – quite possibly Fiore as a whole. _Probably because you wouldn't see if coming with Mirajane unless you knew her back in the day, _Laxus decided with a shrug before lifting his drink to take another sip.

"Because I know you want to see what everyone else contributes to the time capsule so you can get a good laugh out of it." Damn, when did he become _that_ easy to read? "And if you don't I can easily ban you from the bar for however long I like until you agree to help me~!" He couldn't help it, that time he actually spat out some of his drink, staring at Mirajane with wide eyes. But the mother hen of the guild was all smiles, acting as though nothing had even happened as she gave the bar a quick wipe down.

_When did she __start being so __devious again…? _Maybe she just never stopped, he told himself, maybe, just maybe she got better at hiding that side of herself. And despite himself, he found that he liked this side of Mirajane; she was dare he say it, _fun_ to conspire with. Despite the fact he'd return to Fairy Tail with the guild members who had been on Tenrou Island, cured of the crazies, there were still quite a few people that were a little edgy around him, worried about setting him off against should they get on his bad side. Nobody, besides the old geezer Gildarts and the moronic Fire and Iron Dragon Slayers had the guts to have a round or two of banter with him these days without the fear he might take it personally should they say the wrong thing. Or so he thought. He wouldn't deny his respect for the barmaid rose considerably with their little exchange.

Maybe the fiery tempered she-devil Erza and himself had butted heads with on countless occasions when they were younger was still in their, lurking just beneath the surface... the very thought had him repress a shiver.

She was even nicer on the eyes than back then too, not that he needed to tell her _that_ part, he mused. The whole of Fiore knew that after all.

"You wouldn't…" he said slowly after a moments pause, eyeing her carefully. Though despite his best efforts to hide the slight smirk pulling at his lips he could tell from the triumphant gleam Mirajane's eye that she had spotted the coming smirk long before Laxus himself had even felt it take up residence on his lips.

"Of course I wouldn't, I would _never_ do such a thing," she all but purred, patting his hand with a playful smile, taking his glass away to refill it without being asked. After returning his glass to him, Laxus could only watch as her hands quickly shifted to resting on her hips, waiting for his response to the proposal. While part of his mind was telling him to do it, prompting him for what was the worst that could happen; the smart part of his mind was quick to remind him that when people always thought that in the movies, the worst thing that could happen was always quick to occur.

_Ah, screw __it, I got nothing better to do right now and this could be a laugh, _"Alright, I'm in," Laxus shook his head, lifting a hand for Mirajane to shake, though he couldn't help the light chuckle that tickled the back of throat. It could be fun after all, right? Even if it was just getting a laugh at someone else's expense. Plus, part of him was just curious to see what his guildmates would actually contribute to this ridiculous endeavour. "But I expect three months worth of free beer for so _generously_ giving up my time like this to help you in your little quest."

"Uh-huh," Mirajane nodded, clearly amused by the supposed cost of his assistance, "well, we have an accord! Excellent," the bar woman chirped, all sing-song once more as she pulled a thick book out from somewhere under the counter. There was a little golden frame built into the cover, so that a photo could be displayed there, no doubt it would would end up playing home to a group shot of the guild when all was said and done, with the Fairy Tail insignia stamped bellow it in a bold black, standing out against the velvety red of the book itself. "The photo album is big enough that we should be able to fit two photos of everyone in here, one from when everyone was younger or in the case of people like Natsu and Gray, from when they just joined the guild and a photo from now. A short of past and present thing,"

Laxus nodded, slightly surprised at the thought Mirajane had put towards this seemingly random scheme that she'd concocted out of boredom. That's when he took notice of all the photographs displaying much younger Fairy Tail members in contrast with the much older counterparts now dotted around the hall, meaning the white haired barmaid had planned on picking the past photo herself and probably going out a getting everyone to pose for a present one when she needed them to.

"I've already got most of the past pictures picked out," he nodded again, slightly impressed, clearly she was more dedicated towards this idea than he'd given her credit for. Remembering the sheet of paper she'd been scribbling on, he realised it was probably a list of photographs she was going to put in the photo album. "But we also need to go out and get items from everyone as well as a present photo. So I think it'd make things easier if we split the guild in two and do one half each.

"Now, who would you like for your first victim?" Laxus could only raise an eyebrow at her word choice, but laughed and shook his head at the smile she flashed him.

Humming to himself, he spun around so he could he look out at the rest of the guild as they went about their daily business, propping his elbows up on the bar as he observed everyone. Yeah, he thought to himself as his eyes locked on to various members of the guild before quickly moving on, this could be pretty fun after all. Now the only one question remained, who would give him a good laugh to start things off with...?

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><p><em>And there you have it, the first in what will probably be a rather short fic, no more than twelve chapters (including this one) all of which should hopefully be about be this length, maybe a little longer. As such, those that get to make an onscreen contribution are limited, five people for Luxas and five for Mirajane, roughly<em>_. Feel free to make suggestions on who should get shown contributing to the time capsule and what they should donate towards it and why, I'd like to see what you guys can come up with. _

_I ask that you forgive any errors on my part grammar or spelling, as I wrote this during my afternoon break at collage and have only proof read it once, so I've likely missed a few dozen things. I also apologize in advance for any OoC moments that may occur, I'm still pretty new to the Fairy Tail fandom and this is my first shot at trying to write any of the characters and I'm using this as an exercise to work on my characterization of them, so that future works of grander scale won't suffer from such problems._

_Thanks for taking the time to read this, and many thanks to anyone who drops a review - me love you long time, if you do._

_Ta-ta for now~!_


	2. Box of Junk

_I'm back with chapter two, this one goes out to all my fellow GaLe fans as well as to all the people that took time to read, review, favourite/and or alter this little venture of mine. I thank you all deeply, it means a lot to know that people are enjoying what I put up here for everyone to see. I hope this chapter is as enjoyable as the last, if not more so, despite being slightly shorter. But enough out of me, onward with the chapter~!_

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><p><strong>Time Capsule<strong>

_Box of Junk_

What was the worst that could've happen, he'd asked himself. He had nothing better to do with his time, he'd used as his excuses. Why oh _why_ did he do it? He should have just taken his beer and left, but no, he didn't. He would get that damnable woman back for this, even if it was the last thing he ever did. He'd get revenge someway; _somehow -_ Laxus swore it so on his own pride as an S-class mage of Fairy Tail.

_You're taking too long to pick, Laxus. Hmm, I know! I'll pick someone for you! _His bored frown shifted up the scale into a full blown sneer as he recalled Mirajane's words, the little voice in his head doing a rather good impersonation of her in his mind, or rather what he considered to be a good impersonation. He guessed he wouldn't have cared too much if she'd given him someone else – _anyone_ else would've done. Hell, he'd have taken putting up with _Natsu_ over this any day.

Oh how he hated the Fairy Tail barmaid at that moment. Of all the people in the entire guild, _why_ did she have to go ahead and pick-

"So, let me get this straight; you, the _great_ Laxus Dreyar, are collecting crap for a box of junk…?" Hanging his head with a sigh, he gave a slight nod. Seriously, why was the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox, having such a hard time of understanding the concept of time capsule? It wasn't _that_ difficult. Then again, Gajeel was probably just fucking with him fora few easy laughs; he wouldn't put it past him the former Phantom either. "And this is all Mirajane's idea, right? And you just so happened to agree to help out because you _supposedly_ have nothing better to do with your time?" Another nod in response.

And without missing a beat Gajeel's smirk expanded to the point it was threatening to jump off his face as he made a whip cracking motion and the accompanying sound effect before erupting in a fit of laughter.

Oh that was the last straw. But before Laxus could even move from his seat, he was cut off; "_Gajeel_!" Levy reprimanded, looking up from the book she'd been reading at the table where Laxus had found her, the dimwitted Dragon Slayer and his Exceed partner, Pantherlily gathered to relax that afternoon. Gajeel seemed rather surprised that Levy had butted into the conversation all of a sudden having been so engrossed in her reading a moment ago whilst Laxus couldn't help but find it odd that it was Levy McGarden of all people coming to his defence. "It's not crap for a box of junk," or maybe not, he thought, fighting his urge to bang his head against the table as the Iron Moron snorted in amusement.

"It's random crap gathered from everyone in the guild for a pointless box they're gonna bury, if it ain't junk what the hell is it?" Gajeel challenged in response, folding his arms over his chest with a slight frown. But try as he might, Laxus could make out the tiniest of smirks on the younger Dragon Slayer's lips; he was enjoying this back and forth with the Solid Script mage a lot more than he was letting on. And considering he could barely hide his amusement at that moment that was saying a lot.

"It's a time capsule apparently, Gajeel," Pantherlily, or Lily for short, stepped in, voice dry and rather amused as he watched from his seat on top of the table between the squabbling pair and Laxus. Folding his arms over his chest he shook his head, so much for a relaxing afternoon.

"Never would have guessed, _really_," the Iron Dragon Slayer chuckled back. Levy frowned, tucking a few strands of loose hair behind her ear, gazing over the tops of her glasses at her companion, not appreciating his sarcasm in the least.

"You don't put junk into a time capsule," Laxus just sighed, this conversation was going in circles now. Casting a quick glance over his shoulder he tried to seek a quick means of escape from this hell he'd been placed in. But just as he thought the coast was clear enough for him to make his break for freedom he saw Mirajane pop up and wave at him. The smile on her face said it all: she was enjoying this because she knew he _wasn't_ in the least. _Damnable women… _he thought to himself.

"A time capsule is all about trying to preserve items from the present that are important to us and hold meaning and display what the guild means to the current generation so that when those that come after us dig it up, they can get an idea of what the guild was like and see just how far Fairy Tail has come since." Levy explained matter-of-factly, prompting Lily to chuckle again, though Laxus had to wonder what the dark furred Exceed found so damn funny. Though he couldn't help but find the back and forth banter was something more akin to an elderly couple squabbling with one another. Maybe that was what the Exceed found so funny.

"Is that so…?" Gajeel murmured as he cupped his chin, gaze shifting back and forth between Levy herself and Laxus now. The S-class mage just snorted, chin resting in one hand as he lend on the table, at this rate the pair of them would keep him trapped all day. He honestly didn't know if he'd survive that...

But without any warning whatsoever, Gajeel leaned forward and pulled Levy's glasses from her face and shoved them in Laxus' direction. "Here you go," he said, smirking again as though it was perfectly normal for him to go around stealing glasses from people and pawn them off onto others without any explanation whatsoever.

"Gajeel, what are you doing, those are mine!" Levy cried, making to snatch her favourite glasses back, but the dark haired mage merely laughed as he easily kept them out of the girl's reach. Playfully leaning backwards as to make sure he was out of her grasp. "Give them back!"

"_You_ said we had to donate stuff that was meaningful and important," Gajeel shrugged, waving the glasses at Laxus as a prompt to take them for him, "so that's what I doing." Laxus just shook his head, snatching the glasses from his fellow slayer noting that more than a few pair of eyes were locked on their conversation, or whatever the hell they were having.

"And how do my glasses qualify exactly?" Levy demanded, voice dropping to a slight hiss as she shifted uncomfortably as she became aware of their spectators were growing more and more numerous by the second. Her checks said it all, a bright shade of pink at this point and slowly getting brighter.

Laxus couldn't help but sit back and join in the observations now, his original purpose completely forgotten as he watched this sceptical in front of him. Things had gone from annoying, to boring and tedious to vaguely interesting in a matter of minutes. And it was clear that Gajeel was enjoying the situation way more than anyone else present in the entire guild.

"You're cute when you're embarrassed, shrimp," he shrugged matter-of-factly, making Levy go an even brighter shade of pink, bordering on luminous by this point, whilst Lily just sighed, shaking his head once more and his partner's childish teasing. Though Laxus could swear that out of the corner of his eyes he saw something akin to a smirk pulling at Lily's lips, enjoying himself as much as anyone else present despite the facade.

"Don't dodge the question!"

"Twenty jewel on the girl," Laxus murmured to the Exceed, who looked up at him with a hint of surprise. But the black cat quickly allowed his attention to shift back to the arguing pair without saying anything other than; "I'll take that action."

"Ain't it obvious?" Gajeel demanded, sounding surprised it wasn't, but clearly he was the only person that thought so. "The glasses are meant to represent you, aren't they?" Levy could only splutter in response as the entire guild sucked in a breath at the slayer's explanation. _You've got to be kidding me, right…? _Laxus thought, jaw hanging open slight. He wanted to pinch himself, wondering if he'd in fact fallen asleep moments prior during the rather roundabout conversation and was now experience some horrible nightmare.

But as Levy struggled to find her voice and Laxus thought the urge to banging his head against table Gajeel hauled himself up. Dusting himself off, he smirked, "I'll buy you a new pair, how's that sound?" But he never gave her chance to respond; instead he picked her up, throwing her over one shoulder and making a beeline for the door and wherever he had in mind as a few wolf whistles and cheers echoed across the guild hall.

"Gajeel! Wait, wha- _where are you taking me_?"

"Hmm, dunno…" he responded, still heading for the door. "Your place or mine? Later, Lily," he added in fair well after a moment, almost as if it were an afterthought. His departing comment was easily lost in the second round of wolf whistles, laughter and cheers that rang throughout the guild hall as the pair disappeared out the door and vanished from sight.

"About time," Lily said to himself before looking up at a stunned Laxus. "I'll collect my money later." And without another word he hopped down from the table and went off to find something to do with himself, most likely to spar with Erza.

_Just what in the actual hell happened just now…? _Laxus was at a complete loss. Yes; the entire guild had seen that hook-up coming, and knowing Gajeel he'd expected something unorthodox, but _seriously_? What's more, he'd just lost a bet with a damn talking cat… "Mirajane," he said, clambering to his feet, "get me the strongest liquor you got, and a bucket to: I think I'm going to hurl," Fairy Tail just burst out into another round of laughter this time whilst Jet and Droy sobbed hysterically in one another's arms.

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><p><em>As always, I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors on my part along with any OoCness, I think I did a decent job, but that's ultimately up to you guys to decide. I know it was a sort of corny, so forgive me, I just got the image of Gajeel pulling this in my head and I had to write it. I thank you all for taking the time to read this and remind you all that suggestions and reviews are most welcome, hopefully the next one won't take so long to get done. No promises though. Also I'm messing around with the idea of a NaLu oneshot, anyone interested? Let me know and I might just write it before the week is out. <em>

_Until next time, Dobi Boshi is blasting off again~! -insert twinkle in the sky here- _


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